I'll Be There For You
by Jenebra
Summary: "Seems like you're always stuck in second gear, when it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year." Watch grown-up Hunger Games characters be their for each other through the highs and lows of early adulthood. AU/OOC. Based heavily on the TV show FRIENDS. Contains all your favorite characters.


**Credit where credit is due: Susanne Collins owns the characters, and Marta, Kauffman, Crane owns the plot. I just smushed them together - but I seriously own nothing. At all. Seriously. I'm not gonna say it again. I own nothing. Ok, so I just said it again, but I want to make sure you really know. I'm not gonna tell you who's who, because if you know the show, you'll already understand, and if you don't know the show, you won't care. So, enjoy!**

_September 22, 1994_  
_KPOV_

_Cato hadn't done anything wrong - it was me. I just didn't love him._

I hugged my arms across my body as I scurried down the street in the pouring rain. As beautiful as it had looked when I'd purchased it, my dress provided very little comfort against the elements. Luckily, the intricate beading across the top kept the white fabric from soaking through to transparency.

Finally, I saw it, gleaming through the haze of rain like a beacon in the night. Central Perk Coffee Shop. The florescent lighting of the flashing OPEN sign made me grin. I'd found it.

PPOV

"Sweetie, it's gonna be okay," Madge sighed as she rubbed her hand up and down my arm.

Johanna looked up from her broken bongo drum. "What happened?"

I groaned and let my head fall into my hands as Madge spoke for me. "Delly moved her stuff out today."

Gale grabbed my arm. "That's tough, man."

"You really didn't know she was a lesbian?" Finnick asked with his mouth full of muffin.

I glared at him. "If I had known, I wouldn't have married her in the first place."

"Do you ever wonder if you turned her gay?"

My furious gaze shifted to Johanna and she cowered apologetically before turning back to her drums. Madge turned my face towards her.

"You're gonna find someone."

I stood up. "I don't wanna find someone! I just want to be married again!"

Just then, the front door to the coffee house banged open, and there stood a wet, shivering Katniss Everdeen. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who I'd been on fire for all through high school. And college. And my whole life. And, in a hellishly perfect coincidence, she's wearing a white wedding dress.

"And I just want a million dollars!" Gale called, finding joy in the irony of this situation.

"Katniss?" Madge asked, standing up from the couch and approaching the bride cautiously.

"Madge! Oh, thank god!" The two of them hugged each other desperately. "I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but I just didn't know anyone else in the city, so I went to your building and you weren't there, but there was this guy with a big hammer and he said you might be here, and you are!"

Madge pushed Katniss out of her embrace. "Kat, what happened?"

Katniss swallowed. "I just...I couldn't marry him. I couldn't. And I know that you and I have kind of drifted apart, but you were my best friend -"

"Who wasn't even invited the the wedding," Madge cut in.

Katniss scowled guiltily. "I was kind of hoping that wouldn't be an issue..."

Madge sighed before taking her friend's hand and dragging her over to me. "Come on, you might as well meet everyone." She turned to us. "Everybody, this is Katniss Everdeen, another District 12 High survivor. She's gonna be staying with me for a while."

The two of them shared a meaningful look before Madge continued.

"Kat, this is Johanna and Finnick, and you know Gale, and of course, my brother Peeta."

"Hi," I breathed, reaching for her hand at the exact same time my umbrella chose to open, causing her to jump back. God, the universe hates me.

"Hey, Peeta," Katniss smiled once she'd gotten over the shock of the umbrella attack.

Gale looked over to the man behind the counter. "Haymitch," he called, "could we get a towel and a decaf?"

Madge pulled Katniss down onto the couch with her, hugging her friend to her body. "Don't worry about anything, Katniss. I think that leaving him was the smartest thing you've ever done."

_MPOV_

"So," I asked as Katniss found her way to the kitchen table later that night, "have you given any thought to what you're gonna do now that you're here in the city?"

Katniss shrugged. "I guess I've gotta get a job. You know, so I can...buy stuff."

I laughed. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. Plus, it's nice to have somewhere to go in the morning."

Katniss looked past me and towards the group that was currently raiding my cabinets. "Do you guys all have jobs?"

Peeta nodded. "Yeah, we all have jobs. I'm a paleontologist - I work at the museum of natural history."

"A paleo-what?" Katniss said.

Finnick stepped in, placing a hand on her shoulder and making her obviously uncomfortable. "He does something with dinosaurs. It's best not to ask - I'm an actor."

That seemed to impress Katniss. "Have I seen you in anything?" she asked.

"Nah," he sighed, "I do mostly regional stuff."

Then I remembered. "Oh, unless you happened to catch the Wee-Ones production of Pinocchio in the park."

"Look, Geppetto," Gale sighed, mimicking Finnick's performance. "I'm a real live boy!"

Finnick chuckled humorlessly. "It was a job ok?"

"I have no strings!" Gale continued.

Finnick smiled. "I will not tolerate this abuse..."

Gale sighed. "You're right, you're right." A few moments passed in silence before Gale jumped up and ran out the door, dancing like a puppet and singing. "Once I was a wooden boy, a little wooden boy!"

Finnick sighed, not bothering to watch Gale exit the apartment. "You should know that's he's a dead man." He set his coffee down before turning to the door. "Oh, Gale!" he called calmly as he wandered into the hall.

Katniss chuckled softly, smiling into her cereal. Johanna came over to stand behind me.

"I'm a freelance massage therapist," Johanna said, running a hand through her left pig tail.

I smiled. "And I'm a chef."

Katniss scowled. "Wow. How do you get one of those jobs? I'm not qualified for any of that..."

"Why don't you try the coffee house?"

She nodded. "That's a good idea. Thanks, Madge."

_September 29, 1994  
FPOV_

"So," Gale said. "Looks like this whole internet thing is really taking off, huh?"

Madge looked up from her magazine. "It's ok not to talk."

I chuckled as Gale nodded in agreement. Katniss walked over with a coffee and handed it to me, and it only took one sip to realize it wasn't mine.

"Uhm...Kitty Kat?"

She looked me in the eyes, and her grey orbs looked almost panicked. "Yeah?"

I smiled softly at her. "I think this isn't quite what I ordered..."

"Oh, no." She sunk into the chair next to me, one hand covering her face. "I'm sorry Finn, I just...ugh, I'm so bad at this. I hate working here. This job is just...ugh, I can't do this."

I wanted to say something to comfort her, but then a man across the shop called for her and she had to leave.

"Oh no," Madge said suddenly.

Gale looked over at her. "What?"

Madge looked from us to the window and back. "Peeta's coming, and he does not look happy..."

Just then, Peeta walked through the door and flung himself into the big armchair across from my seat.

"Hi," he moaned.

Madge winced. "That is not a happy hi..."

Peeta sighed. "Delly came by today."

"And?" I prompted.

"And she told me she's...she's pregnant. With my child. And she and her lover, Alma, are going to raise the baby together."

Madge scrambled to sit on the arm of his chair and took his hand. "What does this mean for you?" she asked.

Peeta sighed again. "She said it doesn't have to mean anything - I can be as involved as I want. There's no pressure."

"What are you gonna do?"

I watched as the weight of Peeta's decision fell across his face before he finally whispered, "I don't know."

_PPOV_

I think I surprised everyone when I walked into Delly's OBGYN appointment the next day.

"Peeta," Alma snapped at me as I walked in.

"Alma." I replied.

Delly smiled at me to diffuse the tension. "I'm glad you came."

I sighed. "So...how is this going to work? I mean, are we going to make the big decisions and such?"

"Give me a for instance." Delly said, adjusting herself on her pillows.

"Ok," I said. "How about the name."

"Minnie if it's a girl, Marlin if it's a boy," Alma smiled.

"Minnie as in mouse?" I asked.

Delly glared at me. "As in my grandmother."

"Still," I said, "you see Minnie, you hear mouse."

Before our argument could continue, Dr. Heavensbee walked in and moved to set up the ultrasound.

"How is everyone feeling today? Any nausea?" she asked.

We all answered with a noncommittal grunt that the good doctor decided to ignore.

I took a deep breath. I thought I could do this, but I just can't. "You know, I'm just gonna go." I said sadly. "I just don't think I can be a part of this little family."

I moved to walk out the door, but then I heard it. A heartbeat. A pulse. My baby's pulse. And I knew I couldn't leave. I would never leave that heartbeat.

**Is this worth continuing? Let me know. If I keep it up, it'll be about 40 chapters long.**


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